1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical information system which is adapted to home health care.
2. Description of the Related Art
Medical information systems have recently been provided in which vital information of home care patients is collected through a network, and the vital information collected through the network can be browsed. For instance, a system disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 8-38435 has a plurality of patient terminals for transmitting measured vital data, a single server for storing and managing the vital data received from these patient terminals, and a plurality of doctor terminals for obtaining or browsing the vital information retained in the single server.
However, this system provided with the single server has the following problems.
First, load to the server for data correction processes is increased with an increasing number of the patient terminals. The loads to the server at data browsing processes are also increased with an increasing number of the doctor terminals. These increases of the loads to the server cause a delay in response time and a decrease in a transmission rate. Especially, extremely heavy loads to the server may cause the data collection from the patient terminals and the data browsing from the doctor terminals to be impossible.
Second, while the sever is downed (taken offline and/or shut down) to modify a program installed therein so as to adapt the program to changes in specification or the addition of a patient terminal, the data browsing from the doctor terminals becomes impossible. Similarly, in the case of changes in specification or the addition of a doctor terminal, the data collection from the patient terminals becomes impossible due to the server being taken down to change the program.
Third, the single server can not satisfy both requirements from a system administrator and requirements that are inconsistent with the system administrator's requirement from medical institutions such as hospitals that are users of the doctor terminals. Specifically, the system administrator generally demands to hold the server so as to operate and manage it. Contrary to this, the medical institutions demand to hold the server so as to make it able to use the vital data collected from the patient terminals in other medical information systems such as an electronic chart system.
Fourth, the single server has a low level of security protections. Specifically, third parties with bad faith may access the vital information by using the patient terminal without proper authentication.